1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services and, more particularly, to a system and method for automatically redirecting a communication from a dialed directory number to a pre-selected alternate number or numbers, in the event of a service disruption, to provide backup or disaster recovery for subscribers of voice and data communications.
2. Description of the Background
A telephone network is an integral part of the daily operations for nearly all residences and business establishments. For businesses, in particular, a service disruption can be devastating, impacting earnings and even market valuation. The impact of a service disruption on an organization ranges from a minor inconvenience to an inability to perform necessary business tasks with resulting loss of productivity, revenue, and even customers and market share. Service disruptions may stem from a variety of events including, for example, improper digging, mistakes in locating cables, or severe weather. Fortunately, service disruptions are relatively rare. Nevertheless, a prudent network administrator will structure the network to minimize downtime when disruptions do occur.
To protect against such losses, small businesses, and even people who work at home, often use call-forwarding or redirection services. One redirection service is the CRISISLINK® service offered by BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., Atlanta, Ga. The CRISISLINK® service is a network-based service that allows a subscriber to redirect all calls or a selectable percentage of calls during an emergency or during specified times from primary telephone numbers to one or more alternate (“backup”) numbers previously selected by the subscriber. Even with call redirection services like CRISISLINK®, subscribers must contact the service provider to activate the call redirection plan when a problem occurs.
A need exists for a system that minimizes system downtime in the event of an interruption of service. Such a recovery system should be free of any subscriber intervention, thereby minimizing downtime.